Published 2:25 pm, Friday, April 7, 2017

Photo: Caitlin O'Hara

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CAITLIN O'HARA | For the Daily News
Kathy and Tony Biskupski, of Midland, walk through Camelback Ranch, the Los Angeles Dodgers' spring training complex, last week in Glendale, Ariz. The Biskupskis are a host family for Loons' players and Kathy works to match other players with families during the season. less

CAITLIN O'HARA | For the Daily News
Kathy and Tony Biskupski, of Midland, walk through Camelback Ranch, the Los Angeles Dodgers' spring training complex, last week in Glendale, Ariz. The Biskupskis are a host ... more

When you’ve hosted as many Great Lakes Loons’ players as Kathy and Tony Biskupski have, such devotion can take you across the country.

The Biskupskis spent several days recently at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz., to see some of the players that they’ve hosted over the past nine years.

Kathy and Tony, like some other Loons’ host families, make this trek to Arizona an annual tradition.

Call it their own spring training — a time to reunite with their former house guests and to get ready to welcome new ones.

“Before we come here, we always text (the players we’ve hosted) to see who all is going to be here,” Kathy said last week in Arizona. “We let them know we’re going to be here so we can try to meet up and have dinner.”

“We always tell the guys (that we hosted) the previous year that if they’re not coming back (to the Loons), they have to line up the next guys (for us to host) as best they can,” Tony added with a smile.

The Biskupskis’ affection for the Loons is intertwined with the affection they feel for each other. They met in 2010 at Dow Diamond, where Tony works in guest services, and they married in 2013. Kathy had begun hosting Loons’ players back in 2008, and she and Tony have continued to do so as a couple. Kathy also serves as the Loons’ host family coordinator.

“I started hosting when the second (Loons’ season) came around, because I saw a story in the paper (about the need for host families),” Kathy said. “My daughter and I thought it would be kind of fun. She’s since grown up and moved on, but I’m still doing it. So this will be our 10th year of hosting.

“It’s a lot of fun. The (players) come in and they don’t have a lot of money, so they just want a place to stay, and they become part of your family,” Kathy added.

Over the years, those players have totaled about 30, including two who eventually reached the major leagues: Jerry Sands and Steve Ames. Some seasons, as many as five players have lived with the Biskupskis at one point or another. The players come and go, but the Biskupskis keep pictures on the wall at their house to remind them of who has been there.

“We haven’t really had any breakout stars (stay with us), but we’ve had good, solid players and really good kids,” Kathy said.

And housing players has never felt like a burden, she said.

“Some people think, ‘Oh, it’s a big imposition (to be a host family).’ (But) it’s never felt like that,” Kathy said. “We’ve never had anybody we couldn’t trust if we were going to go away for a day. We’ve always just had very good kids.”